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TORONTO, Dec. 5, 2012 /CNW/ - Over a thousand automobile dealers and
10,000 auto sector tradespeople across Ontario joined the Stop The
Trades Tax campaign today. The trades tax will cost tradespeople and
employers millions, kill jobs and drive up the cost of services like
home renovations, car repairs and getting a haircut.

"It's already hard enough to find work in today's sputtering job
market," says Todd Bourgon, Executive Director of the Trillium
Automobile Dealers Association. "This is going to cost tradespeople
more to do their jobs and employers more to create jobs. We really
believe it will discourage young mechanics from finding work. This tax
is going to kill automotive jobs and hurt businesses."

The Stop The Trades Tax campaign was launched by the Ontario
Construction Employers Coalition in response to plans by the McGuinty
government to impose a new tax on Ontario apprentices, journeypersons
and employers starting this spring.

Since it launched in 2011, the Campaign has grown to 24 organizations
whose members represent more than 7,450 small, medium and large Ontario
businesses and over 127,200 skilled tradespeople across the province.
The campaign is supported by tradespeople and business owners who fix
our cars and roads, cut our hair, and build and renovate our homes and
hospitals.

"This trades tax will make everything more expensive for Ontarians,"
said Campaign Chair Sean Reid. "This isn't just a tax on construction,
it's also a tax on oil changes and car repairs. Even haircuts will cost
more thanks to the McGuinty government."

In Ontario, vehicle repairs are regulated under the Consumer Protection
Act and auto dealers are regulated by the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act;
making the trades tax simply a way to fund another layer of unnecessary
bureaucracy.

"The McGuinty government will use the trades tax to build another layer
of government bureaucracy that no one needs or wants," says Reid. "A
new bureaucracy of McGuinty trades cops will never be successful, and
the doomed experiment is sure to cost taxpayers millions and millions
of dollars."